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A little bit of history~
The Stock family and the US Army:
Both Eric and I went into the US Army in July of '96, he being from Georgia and wanting to be a Military Police Officer. I am from Washington and had decided that this would be good for me, hey...college money, free room and board, and a steady paycheck with benefits! Why not?
He went to Fort McClellan Alabama for Basic Training and MP training, then he got orders to Camp Zama Japan in November '96.
I went to Fort Leonardwood Missouri for Basic Training (it was too humid!!), then went to Fort Sam-Houston, San Antonio Texas for Dental Specialist training. In November '96, I got orders to Torii Station, Okinawa. I spent three days in Okinawa before being transferred to Camp Zama Japan. Before leaving the US it had been snowing in Washington, landing in Okinawa where it was 80 and tropical!
Eric and I were both in billeting (military hotel) at the same time and floor, but had not met yet! We met about a week later in a mandatory class called "Headstart", the class is a few weeks long and it teaches you some basic Japanese and about the culture. We sat right next to each other, but at separate tables. We pestered each other with the whole new recruit, fresh from boot camp, and staying awake! I remember thinking, "wow, blond hair, blue eyes, southern accent!! But man, he's a cop!!" I even wrote my best friend a letter describing him! I never mailed it and I still have it!! During these weeks of classes we would see each other, him in his patrol car and me walking,, and we would wave and say hi! We saw each other at the community club, say hi and he would buy me a drink. This went went for a while, the last day of class was a trip to a Japanese resteraunt and garden. We were able to go wearing "civies" (regular clothes instead of military uniforms), I was nervous because I finally decided that I would actually talk to him more than just hi! Yeah, well, he didn't go, he had duty!
We continued with our "Hi's" for a few more weeks. Then we were both at the club on a Saturday night, I was by myself waiting for a few friends to show up, and he came over and said Hi, asked if I wanted a drink and if I wanted to join him. That is where it all started and where it ended! There are few more funny things that had happened between then and October 1997 when we got married, in Japan!
Eric got out of the Army in '98 and was now my dependent!! When we left Japan in Nov '99 I was 7 months pregnant with Reagan and headed to Fort Benning Georgia!
Sept. 11, 2001.....I was due with Justin in just a few weeks, and put on bedrest due to the level of stress with what had happened that tragic day. A few weeks later, Eric decided that he needed to do more, and went into the Georgia Army National Guard.
By May 2002, I was done with my six year enlistment in the Army and I was done! Georgia was not easy on our family of four, in November '02 we were packed up and moving to Washington. We left Georgia on December 2nd, for the next big step for the Stock Family. The first couple of months were a bit of a struggle, Eric not being from there, and not living on the same side of the Puget Sound for me, was an adjustment! Before long we were both employed, Eric transferred to the Washington National Guard and we were finally getting things going in a positive direction!
September '03, Erics grandmother passed away, in the airport flying back to Washington, Eric got a phone call from his Guard unit. You are now under alert for deploment to Iraq. We haven't even been in Washington for a year when we found out that Eric will be deployed for at least 12 months. Eric and I had just started talking about adding another child to our family. When he returned from this deployment we would have another child. Didn't happen that way! I found out I was pregnant and told our family on Christmas! In February '04, Eric left for Iraq. Two kids and being pregnant was not fun in the least! I heard from Eric, by phone usually on Friday mornings. I would be a nervous wreck if he didn't call! He did though, sometimes a day later.
July '04, I was ready for "Charlie" to be born, now! Eric had an emergency appendectomy over in Iraq, that later caused him to be sent home for it to heal. He was home when Charlie was born in August! Eric returned to Iraq a week later. I was very busy with two toddlers and a newborn and a fulltime job. At night I missed my husband.
November 2004 was very, very hard month. My best friend since the age of five, who was living in Georgia, her family was in a house fire. Mylinda, her daughter Kristen, made it out, her youngest Anthony did not. He was only 6 years old. December I flew out to Georgia to go see Mylinda and Kristen. I just missed Kristen, she flew back to Washington to live with her dad. I spent a little over a week there with Mylinda. She was improving! I also was not impressed with Grady Memorial Hospital, to say the least. When I left, she was walking assisted and she was back! I truly, 100% blame that hospital for what happened over the next few months! Mylinda passed away in April 2005, at the age of 28.
May '05, Eric returned from Iraq! What a whirl wind the next few weeks were! We bought our very first home in Enumclaw! Flew to Florida to visit Erics family! Things started to settle down! Eric worked for the states dept of corrections, then changed to Pierce County Sheriffs Dept. Reagan started kindergarden that fall! All day versus half day!
April '06, I stopped working and decided that it would be better for us if I stayed home with the kids. Daycare is very expensive! Life was good! For the next year, we were a complete family!
By May '07 Eric had left again for his second deployment! He went to the East Coast for training first. When the Reagan school year ended in June, we drove to California to spend the summer down there! I didn't want to spend three months in the house constantly worrying about Eric. In July, my mom and grandmother kept all three kids for a few days, so I could fly to New York and meet up with Eric there. We spent four days together, site seeing and spending quality time together before he left for another deployment.
September 2007, Reagan is now in 2nd grade and Justin is in Kindergarden and loving it. This time around, things proved difficult for Reagan and I. It was something I knew we had to take to the next step. By Jan. '08 Reagan was diagnosed with ADD, after much discussion with her doctor and with Eric over the phone, medicine was the next step. After a few months, things calmed down, Reagan seemed to be doing much better!
February proved to be another test of strength for our family. Justin fell very ill. Things got a bit confusing. He was misdiagnosed with just the flu (not by his physcian). By the next day, he had not improved, slept and continued to run a very high fever. Took him back, same thing, the flu, but since his fever would not break, they sent us to the hospital. This is when we found out that he had Scarlett Fever, not the flu. go home, more bedrest. Later that night, Justins left eye was really puffy and he could only open it a little. By morning, it didn't seem right, his eye couldn't be caused by him sleeping so heavily on his face? I finally got him in with his pediatrician. Sitting in the waiting room, she walked by and wanted him immediately in an exam room. After a brief history and exam, she sent us to the local hospital for a CT scan. Justin was not happy that he was going to get an iv for the contrast die! The hospital is less than a block away from our home, we weren't back a half hour when his doctor called back. I was to take him immediately to Childrens Hospital in Tacoma. Justin has orbital cellulitis and a serious sinus infection! Justin was hospitalized for five days! His eye also went from bad to worse! Luckily with all the medicine and fluids and sinus flushes, he started to feel better! He really liked the fact that they had Game Cube!
Wow! That was a difficult week, on a good note! It is a small world when your sons attending physcian went to school with your husband in Georgia!!
6 months ago:
With Eric being deployed this second time, he and I spent many hours online and on the phone (better communication this time!), discussing if we should go back into the Army full time. We already knew that the possibility of him deploying a third time was indefinite. He already had 12 years total invested, might as well get the retirement as active duty versus through the National Guard. Eric got home in May of this year, by June he was back into the Army full time! We were going to Germany! We sold our home in Enumclaw and moved to Puyallup for the next few months. Eric was home for just a short while before he had to leave to inprocess back into the Army. He then would head to Germany before us. In the fall the kids started at a new school and were excited although they missed daddy all over again!
The downside to going to Germany this way, we had no idea where in Germany we would be moved too! I spent a few weeks reading up on every installation there is in Germany! I had my "top 5" list and the bases we absolutely did not want to get!! When Eric got to Germany in October he first went to a small installation, not in my five, but not on the bottom either. Good, now I was able to start better preparing for this big move and prep the kids about our new home! That lasted for a week! Eric was then sent to USAG Grafenwoehr, pronouned "graph-in-veer". This was #2 on my top 5!! I was ecstatic!! Then came the longest few months ever!! We had to wait on paperwork allowing for the kids and I to come to Germany!! We already had gotten all of our passports so I itching to get the ball rolling on this end! I had appts to make, packers and shippers to schedule, a car and a cat that had to up to date on everything to ship!
November 25, the day before Thanksgiving, we got the papers!!! I loaded up the kids and we went to the closest base, Fort Lewis! I scheduled the packers and the shippers, ordered new passports, the ones that allow us to live versus our tourist ones! Got a date set to fly! I had a little over three weeks to get everything ready to leave!
The week we flew! Well Mother nature was trying to make it really difficult for us! It snowed on Reagans 9th birthday, the 13th, the packers were due on the 15th! The snow did not stop coming all week! At one point, on Thursday, it took me four hours to get from Puyallup to Auburn! Plus my cell hone had died too! This drive normally takes about 45 minutes! Thank goodness our rental car was a Jeep Commander (loved that thing!!!)!!! All the ways to get on the highway were blocked off from all the cars slipping and sliding! I took so many back roads, there was a compass in the Commander, so I knew if I stayed W, NW, I would adventually get to my dads! I don't think I could even begin to tell you what roads I took!
Friday night, the 19th, the news was talking about a huge storm front coming in! I was glued to the tv hoping that it would not hit till our plane was well on the way!!
Saturday, the 20th! The longest day ever! My dad and I took all the luggage to the airport early. There would be no way that I could handle 3 kids, a cat, 3 carry-ons, 7 suitcases and a carseat bag by myself! This made a huge difference...thanks dad!! Got back to the airport with the kids, cat and I with our carry-ons, to get on a huge plane for a 12 hour flight! Then a layover in Amsterdam and a second flight to Nurnburg Germany. The kids Nintendo DS's and Charlies Leapster were fully charged and ready to go! Well they never touched them! On the back of every seat was your own personal tv screen! You could choose from over 30 movies, 6 games, or music, you could even wacth a virtual map of the planes flight! We each even had our own remotes! Took me a bit to get Charlie not to touch it though!!
Our layover in Amsterdam was not fun! For a two hour layover, we didn't stop moving! At one point we were on those "moving" sidewalks, Justin stopped right at the end and Reagan pushing one of the carts crashed in to him! She was screaming because she was still on the walking sidewalk and couldn't get her footing to get up! The cat in her carrier went flying! Then we had to go down an escalator without the use of the carts. Charlie flipped out on that and wouldn't go down and I was already headed down! It took three trips to get everything and everyone down! Thank goodness for some very nice and helpful people in Amsterdam! At the gate, people stepped right up to help me with the kids and all the bags! I know a few were American, the others, I am not sure. I truly thank them from the bottom of my heart! These are the same people that helped once we landed in Nurnberg Germany! All of our checked bags were the first ones off of the conveyor belt and security was awesome! They let Eric give me the carts he got for us to bring over to pile the luggage on! Then I was able to take it past security and come back for the rest! All of this with no hassles!! I was liking it here already!!
First Day in Germany! Not much to tell you, after Eric met us and we got all the initial hugs and kisses out of the way, and things loaded in the SUV he borrowed, we got on the road for our 1 & 1/2 hour drive to our home. The kids and I passed out shortly there after being in the car! The end of our first day in Germany!
